Despite an Israeli airstrike on Hamas leadership in Doha that killed at least five people, the terror group has decided to continue negotiations aimed at ending the war, sources from the terror group told London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday.
The sources said the political bureau reached a consensus to press ahead with the talks in a manner that secures Palestinian demands, including a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and guarantees regarding Gaza’s future governance.
Hamas is expected to resume contact with mediators in the coming days once the security environment stabilizes. Internal consultations are also planned through secure channels to determine the group’s negotiating strategy, according to the sources.
Two senior members of Hamas’s political bureau were wounded in the strike, including one who remains in serious condition, Hamas claims. Both are receiving treatment under heavy guard at a private hospital in the Qatari capital. The names of the injured officials have not been released.
Hammam al-Hayya, the son of senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya, along with al-Hayya’s office director, Jihad Lubad, three bodyguards, and a Qatari security officer, were killed in the strike.
The success of the strike, and whether it was able to kill the main targets of the leadership, remains to be seen.
The compound contained both offices and residences for senior Hamas leaders and their staff. A villa belonging to al-Hayya was among the hardest hit in a series of four precision strikes, sources said.
Haniyeh’s office damaged in strike
Additional bombs struck areas adjoining the targeted villa, including a former office of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31 in an Israeli operation. Hamas leaders were reportedly meeting in that space, located adjacent to al-Hayya’s residence, when one of the bombs exploded. Members of the political bureau who were seated in a distant section of the large office sustained injuries.
According to the sources, Israeli intelligence may have relied on signals from mobile phones to track the meeting location, but failed to account for Hamas’s practice of leaving phones outside high-level gatherings. This, they said, contributed to the high number of casualties among security personnel.
Hamas maintains several residential and operational compounds throughout Doha, and its leadership routinely rotates meeting sites. Additional political bureau offices are located near the site of the strike, but were not affected.
Meeting with Qatari premier canceled
Following the strike, Hamas had been scheduled to meet with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss a ceasefire proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump. That meeting was canceled.
The sources repeated Hamas’s accusation, made in an official statement, that the United States was complicit in the Israeli attack. One source claimed that the strike was part of “an American-Israeli trick” designed to lure Hamas leaders into one location for assassination. When the operation failed to eliminate the full leadership, he said, the United States “abandoned it, claiming it was informed only at the last minute and offering flimsy excuses.”
Several Hamas leaders had reportedly flown in from Turkey and Egypt to attend what was described as an expanded leadership meeting.